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This morning when I was suffering through my Jillian Michaels workout DVD (damn you Jillian and your explosive cardio intervals!), my son insisted on sitting on me. I should clarify – this particular workout DVD is one that emphasizes abdominal work, so having a 25-pound child squatting on your chest really does present a problem. Am I truly complaining about having to take a breather from my workout? No, especially when the breather is caused by such an adorable distraction who keeps saying “Climb on Mommy!” in his adorable toddler voice.

But, as I was trying to do my sit-ups with Jack stationed on me, I couldn’t help but feel like the situation was slightly symbolic of my life right now. I’ve been having one of those “blah” months where it seems as though everything I attempt to get done and accomplish gets thwarted by circumstances mostly beyond my control. This summer was THE summer I wanted to focus on my novel. And, while I’ve made more progress on my novel this summer than I have in the past three years combined, it’s still nowhere near completion. Why, you might ask? Probably because I’ve spent half of my summer applying for jobs and putting together resumes, letters of recommendation and portfolios for the seven (that’s right SEVEN) job interviews I’ve attended. And, do I have a teaching position? Not yet. But don’t worry, job interviews eight and nine are tomorrow and Wednesday (respectively).

When it all boils down, I’m really getting frustrated because I feel like I’m doing everything I can to find a job and work on my novel and be productive in regards to the things that are important to me, but I’m getting nowhere fast. It’s like trying to do sit-ups with a child on your chest. You can strain and expel effort and ooze determination, but until that boy gets bored and wants to sit on something else (“Climb on the couch! Climb on the school bus! Climb on Lucie [the dog]!”), it’s next to impossible. I guess I just have to keep trying and hope that eventually one of these principals will decide to take a chance on a new teacher so that I can actually get some experience and finally start focusing on things other than employment.